Retired researcher. International consultant evaluator and capacity builder in large organizations and systems. Family historian to the Sinclair Macphersons. Campaigner for representative democracy in Rotorua and runner-up mayoral candidate in 2016.

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Curriculum Vitae: Reynold Macpherson

Published: 2016-07-25

Posted: 2015-03-13

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25 July 2016

Macpherson, R.J.S. (2013). Evaluating three school-based integrated health centres established by a partnership in Cornwall to inform future provision and practice, International Journal of Educational Management, 27(5), June.

Published: 2013-06-15

Posted: 2013-06-07

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Purpose – The aim of this paper is to report the process, findings and implications of a three-year evaluation of integrated health centres (IHCs) established in three secondary schools in Cornwall by the School-Based Integrated Health Centres (SBIHC) Partnership.
Design/methodology/approach –When the partners had completed the capital works, an evaluation strategy was designed for 2009-2012 to identify the extent to which each of the IHCs was meeting the aims set for them, and each IHC and school was contributing to the aims of the SBIHC project. Formative and summative evaluation used annual case studies to apply data progressively regarding (a) the use, users and operations of each IHC, (b) students’ perceptions of the user-friendliness of the IHCs, (c) indicators of the general health and well-being of students and their sexual and mental health, (d) students’ exposure to crime, substance abuse and poverty, and (e) students’ academic achievement, attendances and exclusions. This process culminated in this paper which reports and discusses findings, suggests implications for practice, theory and research and proposes future directions for the partnership.
Findings – All three schools engaged students closely in the design and decoration of their IHCs to create attractive reception areas leading into modern clinical and group meeting rooms. Student ownership was extended into the selection of coordinators and into centre management and governance, alongside school, community and provider representatives.
Budehaven Community School appointed a National Health Service (NHS)-trained coordinator for their IHC, The Haven. He was a male mental health worker funded for one year by the NHS. When he took a permanent NHS post elsewhere at the end of 2009-2010, his responsibilities were thereafter shared between the NHS-trained receptionist and the manager, an assistant head teacher.
The Haven was established in a converted caretaker’s bungalow. During 2011-2012, Year 3, Budehaven added a ‘co-location’ building, Kevren, with hot desks and small meeting rooms to extend the reach of the IHC in order to pioneer a community health support service. The health, welfare and educational professionals hosted have exhibited early forms of interprofessional collaboration (IPC). About 37 professionals are now located in or visit The Haven and Kevren weekly, each either funded by the school, the NHS, charities or Cornwall Council. Student footfall doubled to about 4,000 in the second year of operations, and increased by another 25% in the third year due to additional users from the community.
The wide range of general, mental and sexual health services, which focus on prevention and students making informed choices, were found to be highly valued by the students. A solely positive association was found between visits made to The Haven, academic progress, attendance and exclusions and a sharp fall in students’ engagement with the Youth Offending Service (YOS). Students’ exposure to crime, substance abuse and poverty remained constant. Unsatisfactory sample sizes meant there was an imprecise knowledge of the perceived user-friendliness of The Haven and student mental health status. Budehaven plans to move towards a more evidence-based approach to improving professional practices and integrating health services with in-school interventions, curriculum development and community outreach.
The Crayon, the IHC in Hayle Community School, achieved a similar footfall over the three years, similarly engaging students in design, management and governance from the outset. It was also housed in a converted caretaker’s bungalow. It started with a Receptionist and the Pupil Welfare Officer, a nurse, with many other health and welfare responsibilities distributed across the school. The Manager, a deputy head teacher, and the head teacher triggered a major turn round at the end of Year 1 by moving most student support services into the IHC. From then on the Crayon had three full-time and highly collaborative professionals serving only school students. By the end of Year 3, with a growing number of visiting professionals funded by the school, the NHS, charities and Cornwall Council, the Crayon had reached the limits of its facilities.
Perceptions collected using the User Friendliness Survey (UFS) affirmed that Hayle students strongly appreciated gaining access to the health services they prefer, a welcoming atmosphere, confidential services, caring and supportive staff and health professionals, high quality information and advice, and being able to improve the user-friendliness of their centre. Mental health data collected in two year groups over the three years showed the substantial impact of mental health innovations, pointing to the combined effects of targeted individual and group interventions delivered through the IHC, and the targeted cohort, whole-school and beyond-school interventions, and the customised professional development organised by senior staff.
External data indicated effective levels of sexual health self-management by students while their exposure to crime, substance abuse, domestic violence and poverty had remained constant. A solely positive association was found between IHC usage and measured improvements to mental health and academic progress. Hayle students’ attendances also improved, exclusions stabilised and their engagement with YOS fell sharply. Plans focus on housing additional health and welfare professionals from the NHS, charities and Cornwall Council experienced in working with children and young people to extend services into the community.
The IHC in Penair School, Bywva, was a fresh build. It developed a wide range of general, sexual and mental health services and attracted a similarly strong footfall. It also reached capacity during Year 3. UFS data confirmed that students regarded the user-friendliness conditions noted above as essential. Students helped select two co-coordinators, one a social worker and the other a person experienced in working with young people, who job shared until a functional review in early Year 3 refreshed expectations and they negotiated separations. Penair refined their IHC’s line management by an assistant head teacher and coordination by a lead practitioner who was transferred from the Learning Support Centre. Two other lead practitioners and three pastoral support workers were also transferred into the IHC for 2012-2013 to help safeguard students and take up family case loads, and to implement Penair’s policy of delivering family-centred community health services through IPC.
The presence of the Bywva in Penair was closely associated with major in-school advances in evidence-based practice. They included the ground-breaking Health, Fitness and Wellbeing curriculum and the associated personal weight management programmes, the Fitness Suite and the Trim Trail. The Student Information Management System (SIMS) was re-engineered to embed the analysis of student mental health into academic progress reviews and to provide integrated evidence for planning individual, group, cohort and whole-school interventions, and for targeting professional and curriculum development.
External data showed that students’ sexual health self-management had remained effective and that their exposure to crime, drug abuse and violence had remained constant. A solely positive association was found between students using the Bywva, students’ sexual and mental health, academic progress, and a significant fall in youth offending. In September 2012, the Cornwall Foundation Trust decided to convert the caretaker’s bungalow beside Bywva in order to host many more health and welfare professionals from the NHS, voluntary organisations and Cornwall Council. Since this move was driven in part by a need to cut the cost of down-town offices, it is not yet clear if it will result in greater IPC in the Bywva.
Nine themes found in the data centred on the key relationship between students and professionals and were used to create a provisional ecological model of school-based and integrated health care. It was concluded that the three IHCs achieved most of the aims set for them by the SBIHC Steering Committee, and that they and their schools made important contributions to the aims of the project.
Research limitations – This trial of a school-based integrated health centre model of care was partly limited by the PCT not commissioning the part-time participation of doctors and nurses, although two schools were able to modify and embed the services of their school nurses in their IHCs. To this point, service development has focussed more on the needs of adolescents than on the needs of children in each school area. The provision of data by Cornwall Council personnel encountered difficulties due to the databases used by health, welfare, educational and police services being based on different boundaries; near approximations to school catchments had to be used. The Health and Wellbeing Improvement Tool (HWIT) was withdrawn as unreliable by the Healthy Schools Plus Programme in Year 2 of the trial; the schools each developed unique solutions. Budehaven did not collect adequate samples of UFS and Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) data but will do so in coming years. The greatest limit was that the research was confined to three sites over three years. Together, these limitations may have slightly impaired the development of each of the three IHCs and understated accumulating effects. They indicate that the findings are to be regarded as provisional, and that only preliminary generalization is warranted prior to further research.
Research implications – The practical implications of the findings for the development of IHCs begin with student ownership. Sustaining student engagement in the design, management and governance of IHCs and applying students’ perceptions of their user friendliness were shown to be critical to the effective development and continuous improvement of IHCs.
Five practical implications for schools were the importance of (1) using standardised tools annually to screen general health and wellbeing and mental health, (2) eliciting data from Council personnel to understand trends in school catchments regarding sexual health and exposure to crime, drug abuse, violence and poverty, (3) relating progressive health data to the value added by the schools regarding educational progress, (4) enhancing the role of SIMS in providing integrated intelligence for evidence-based practice, planning, interventions and development, and (5) separating the line management and annual evaluation of IHCs.
Two immediate implications for the SBIHC partnership are the need to disseminate these findings and to consider follow up. Both imply the need for a fresh coherent strategy for the next phase of the SBIHC Project and the need to revitalise the Steering Group. A programme is recommended with a County-wide remit to facilitate the establishment of more IHCs, expert support for head teachers and schools wanting to develop an IHC in spare space, Council administrative support for the Steering Group, and pound for pound investment in IHC conversions up to a limit of £10,000, on five key conditions. The findings of this project would suggest that such investment should be contingent on schools guaranteeing (1) student engagement in design, management and governance, with staff, governor and provider representation, (2) reporting universal and annual surveys of the user friendliness of IHCs, general health and wellbeing and student mental health to the Steering Group, (3) reporting sexual health data as well as exposure to crime, substance abuse, violence and poverty from Council sources, (4) developing SIMS to integrate health information flows into school reviews, planning, interventions and developments, and (5) hosting NHS, charity and Council health and welfare professionals in a context of IPC to address identified health needs in their catchment area.
The need for theory development was identified in three areas; how IHC services impact on student learning, how IHCs affect the pedagogy, curriculum and organisation of schools, and, the role and leadership of IPC in school-based integrated health services. Further research might measure the effect of school-based integrated health services on student health and academic progress, and measure the comparative effectiveness of the SBIHC model of care over time.
Originality/value –The first unique feature is that the SBIHC Project and its evaluation was mounted by a partnership comprising charitable, private and public entities; The Duchy Health Charity, The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health (PFIH, since replaced by the College of Medicine), the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust (PCT) of the NHS, the Directorate of Services for Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) of Cornwall Council, the Peninsular Medical Schools and three schools; Budehaven Community School, Hayle Community School and Penair School. Second, this evaluation is the first to report a formative and summative evaluation of IHCs using case studies with a blend of qualitative and quantitative data. Third, while American and Canadian studies have indicated the benefits of IPC in IHCs, this is the first that has highlighted the need to develop and reconcile IPC with student engagement in the management and governance of IHCs and with the other conditions that students continue to regard as crucial for the success of IHCs. Fourth and finally, this paper offers a new conceptual model of the SBIHC model of health care centred on the reciprocity and integrity of relationships between students and professionals.
Keywords–children, adolescents, school-based integrated health centre, model of health care, general health, wellbeing, mental health, sexual health, interprofessional collaboration
Paper type–Research report

Macpherson, R.J.S.(2011). Professional qualities of education leaders, formerly The professionalism and professionalization of education leaders, Leadership and Professional Development Issue, New Zealand Education Review Series, 2(3), 30-32.

Published: 2011-07-01

Posted: 2011-09-07

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This short article summaries the findings of the National Review of the Preparation and Succession of Educational Leaders in New Zealand/ Aotearoa, 2008-2009. The Review surveyed a range of stakeholders to demonstrate that current provisions are not meeting the needs of neophyte or practicing principals in primary and secondary schools and fall well short of what practitioners are provided in other countries. It points to the preparatory and succession strategies suited to New Zealand conditions, how a new peak professional association could assist and identifies five acute problems in tertiary educational leadership programmes. It concludes that the inadequacy of professionalization in educational leadership warrants ministerial intervention.

Macpherson, R.J.S (2011). Educational administration and management in Timor Leste: Language and capacity building challenges in a post-conflict context, International Journal of Educational Management, 25(2), 186-203.

Published: 2011-01-01

Posted: 2011-04-25

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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between a national language policy that strongly favours Portuguese and Tetun over Bahasa Indonesian and English, and the establishment and administration of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education in Timor Leste.
Design/methodology/approach: The author was embedded in the Inspectorate between January and June 2009 to assist with capacity building. During this period he conducted ethnographic analysis of the administration of two of the largest regions prior to helping develop the School Inspector's Manual and a strategic plan and budget for the Inspectorate. This report was derived from those experiences.
Findings: The Inspectorate in the Ministry of Education, led by an Inspector General, has a symbiotic relationship with what is termed in this paper as the 'Schools Directorate' (since it does not yet have a formal organisational title) led by a Director General. Although the Inspectorate is required to improve the quality and accountability of all services provided by the Schools Directorate, the close symbiosis encouraged between the sister bureaucracies by the Minister of Education has resulted in serious goal displacement in both organisations, degrees of confusion and paralysis in implementation. Four major reasons are identified. The Minister co-manages the Schools Directorate and the Inspectorate as a Chief Executive Officer. Formal communications in the Ministry are conducted in Portuguese, although few are competent in this language. Regional Directorates and Regional Inspectorates are required to collaborate closely in review and development planning, while the activities of the latter are funded and administered by the former. Finally, the cultural norms of conflict-avoidance in a post-conflict context have become so pervasive that performance management in the Ministry has been neutralised by political patronage, organisational ambiguity, scarce resources and corruption.
Research limitations/implications: The research reported is limited by the duration of the fieldwork, the priority given to contracted tasks, such as the development of the School Inspector's Manual, and the unique nature of Timor Leste, and the relatively small size of its education system. Generalization is therefore limited to Timor Leste, and then only with caution, given the dearth of systematic research in one of the newest countries in the world.
Practical implications: The findings imply the need for a review of the national language policy with a view to a more effective and efficient use of scarce resources and organisational science in the education system. There also needs to be a clearer distinction between policy making and policy implementation in the Minister's Office and more systematic capacity building in strategic leadership, planning and budgeting in the Schools Directorate and in the Inspectorate. Three critical issues are the need for a more practical and inclusionary language policy, a compensation policy that serves as an incentive regime, and the need to confront corruption from the highest levels.
Originality/value: Timor Leste was established as country in 1999 when the Indonesians relinquished sovereignty and their departing military units and associated militias left most of the educational infrastructure in ruins. Civil disorder flared again in 2006 and the Government invited international military and reconstruction aid agencies in to restore order and reinvigorate development. The Inspectorate was established by law in 2008 to improve the quality and accountability of the school education system. This paper therefore reports baseline research into the development of the Ministry of Education and the Inspectorate.
Keywords: System development, system leadership, quality, accountability, language policy, Inspectorate, investigations, compensation, corruption
Paper type: Research report.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (2010). The professionalization of educational leaders through postgraduate study and professional development opportunities in New Zealand tertiary education institutions, Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 5(6), 209-247.

Published: 2010-07-01

Posted: 2011-04-14

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This paper reports a review of the professionalization services in educational leadership available from New Zealand's tertiary institutions at a time of accelerating retirements and turnover. Case studies of current programs identified six urgent policy issues: the need for research-based provisions in early childhood education (ECE); potential conflicts of interest for university faculties contracted to deliver government professional development (PD), consultancy, and support services; the preparatory needs of first-time team and executive leaders in schools and centre leaders in ECE; blending optional assessment of PD activities with postgraduate study programs; national investment needed to triple participation in the professionalization of educational leaders, and removing conditions antithetical to the systematic professionalization of leadership while creating incentive regimes that will sustain leadership capacity building. Five
conclusions appear warranted. Each institution should provide effective professorial leadership to their research, teaching, and advisory teams in educational leadership or withdraw from the field. Market leaders in ECE might form a consortium with national stakeholders to articulate a research-based and career-related leadership development framework. The latent demand for professionalization exceeds supply by a factor of about three requiring Ministerial reform of incentives and national investment in educational leadership. Educational leaders in New Zealand are poorly educated in leadership compared to their international counterparts and need fresh incentives to become an All Master's profession. Finally, New Zealand's professional associations should play a much
more significant role in the professionalization of leaders by setting aside past differentiation and competitive strategies, recognizing all colleagues in designated
leadership roles, combining into one national peak body, and engaging in the governance of the professionalization services provided by tertiary education institutions.

This paper reports the views of 28 educators in early leadership positions about their career paths and the appropriateness of preparatory and succession strategies for leaders in New Zealand schools. The provisional findings reiterate the issues highlighted by an earlier pilot involving 14 secondary principals; extrinsic motivators that help potential leaders to become aspirant leaders, sustaining engagement with career path planning, role-specific and prior skills training and mentoring, integrating skills training with higher and evidence-based learning about leadership by designation, leadership development infrastructure, and the need for national investment. These 28 educators, sampled in late July 2008 at the Extending High Standards Across Schools Conference, raised six more issues; (a) the need for district or regional systems to deliver career planning and mentoring, (b) growing demand for access to higher and evidence-based learning about executive and institutional leadership, (c) negligible preparation for teaching principalships (d) acceleration through past designations reducing role-specific leadership capacity on appointment, (d) non-systematic learning about leadership after appointment and, (e) the need for additional investment in leadership development infrastructure to deliver more comprehensive preparatory and succession leadership development strategies. In sum, the two pilots provide accumulating evidence of serious issues in the quality and quantity of leadership supply and to the need for further research into the attitudes of educators to preparing for and succeeding in leadership designations.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (2010). Attitudes and intentions of New Zealand educators about preparing for and succeeding in educational leadership roles: Implications for a national professional leadership development strategy, International Studies in Educational Administration, 38(2) 115-152.

Published: 2010-01-01

Posted: 2010-01-11

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This paper proposes an educational leadership development strategy for New Zealand. It shows that the Professional Leadership Plan announced in September 2009 is unlikely to anticipate coming shortages of qualified, trained and experienced educational leaders in school and early childhood education. This paper discusses the findings of an international literature review on the professionalization of educational leaders, systematic reviews of research that links leadership to learning, and reports a survey of the preferences of 495 New Zealand educators regarding preparatory (pre-service) and succession (in-service) leadership professionalization strategies. The main survey found that most respondents believe that the quality of system management and perceived inadequacies of funding and support services and teacher productivity are the major impediments to effective educational leadership in schools. Respondents were found to have limited knowledge, experience or interest in alternatives to learning leadership 'on the job' and, understandably, share a belief in the efficacy of this approach. Respondents' current career and leadership learning data suggest that accelerating progress through (or increasingly over) 'stepping stone' leadership appointments without role-specific preparation or systematic learning in-role is more likely to result in continued amateurism through serial incompetence than evidence-based leadership and professionalization. The intense degree of professional frustration reported by respondents pointed to the importance of redefining and distributing school leadership responsibilities, making school leadership an attractive profession and investing nationally in more sophisticated professionalization policy and appropriate infrastructure. Nine preparatory and nine succession strategies were embedded in a proposed learning framework for the professionalization of New Zealand educational leaders. Sixteen services were recommended for delivery by a new peak body of professional associations.

Age demographics in the New Zealand education workforce require substantial numbers to fill leadership roles from 2010 when Baby Boomers will accelerate their retirement. Appropriate preparatory strategies would help ensure basic competency on being appointed. Effective succession strategies would help ensure ongoing professional development, organisational learning and systemic capacity building. One potentially helpful source concerning apt preparatory and succession strategies is the knowledge and experience of current practitioners. This research note reports the current attitudes and intentions of an opportunistic sample of 14 secondary principals towards preparing for, and succeeding into, educational leadership roles at different levels. The provisional and indicative data collected by survey suggest that New Zealand largely relies on educational leaders 'learning on the job' at team and executive leadership levels and then promoting them about the time they achieve competence. This suggests that phase one of the nation's leadership professionalisation strategy is based on serial incompetence. During phase two, the respondents reported their shallow and uneven access to a limited range of preparatory and succession learning opportunities for principals. This suggests that leadership professionalisation could be resulting in amateur capacity. Five issues identified for follow up research and leadership development policy include (a) catering for the diversity of career paths, (b) providing role-specific skills training by designation, (c) integrating skills development with deeper learning about leadership, (d) offering extrinsic motivators of engagement in leadership, and (e) the need for national investment in leadership development infrastructure that is coherent, career-related and evidence-based. The tentative findings suggest that New Zealand's new Professional Leadership Plan 2009-2010 may begin to meet many of the requirements for systematic professionalisation and challenge the traditions of amateurism through serial incompetence.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (2009). The professionalisation of educational leadership: The implications of recent international policy research in leadership development for Australasian education systems, Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 24(1), 53-117.

Published: 2009-11-01

Posted: 2010-01-11

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This article uses international policy research published in 2007 and 2008 to clarify policy options for Australasian education systems regarding the preparation and succession of educational leaders. The current educational leadership development policies in New Zealand and Australian states are briefly reviewed. Evidence is then presented from a wide range of education system studies sponsored by three major projects; the OECD's Improving Schools Leadership project, the International Study of Principal Preparation and the International Handbook on the Preparation and Development of School Leaders. It was found that the major concepts used to describe and justify leadership development internationally included national educational philosophies, cultural leadership, school effectiveness and improvement, socially-critical political philosophy, and personal learning in a planned career path. It was found that Australasian education systems would be well advised to address emergent crises in the quality and quantity of supply by developing integrated educational leadership development policies and programmes with particular features: active learning, skills training and higher education connected to practice; a career-related learning
framework; effective role transitions; summative and formative evaluation; a validated indigenous knowledge base in a multi-cultural context; and, a research and development role for universities. Four key strategies are recommended: (a) redefine school leadership responsibilities to untangle ambiguities of governance and recentralisation, deepen the research base of leadership practice and advance deep learning about the dilemmas of practice; (b) distribute school leadership to help resolve endemic role overload and role conflict over accountabilities; (c) develop a national framework for leadership learning to reconcile careers, institutional needs, demands for system leadership and terms and conditions of service; and (d) make school leadership an attractive profession through the professionalisation of recruitment, salaries, national associations and career development.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (2009). Power, meet ethics: A formal introduction of political philosophy to educational administration and to the political relativity of theories in the field, Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 24(2).

Published: 2009-10-05

Posted: 2009-03-22

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This paper introduces the largely unrealised yet growing and major potential role for the discipline of political philosophy in the growth of knowledge in the field of educational administration. It does this by offering working definitions, summarizing the history and conceptual domain of political philosophy, and indicating how 'thinking about thinking' regarding the use and legitimacy of power and current political arrangements in education may help advance practice, research and theory building in educational administration, educational leadership and educational policy making. It then uses the discipline to clarify the relativity of the political theories that appear to have already made largely unheralded contributions to the growth of theories in the field. It concludes with three recommendations concerning the discipline of political philosophy; it should be regarded as a foundational discipline in educational administration; it should be used to trace and critique political ideologies in the development of theories of educational administration; and it should be used more explicitly to arbitrate knowledge claims that purport to justify the use of power in education.

This paper uses the point of Socrates' death to invite educational managers and management educators to reflect critically on practice. It offers ways and means of reflecting on actions using ethically-critical, socially-critical, environmentally-critical, politically-critical and globally-critical perspectives. It does this with special reference to the concept of value and the unique nature of knowledge organizations. A blend of Rawlsian egalitarian liberalism and Deweyan democratic and educative pragmatism is recommended to support all of these ways of being critical in management education, research and in practice.

This article reports a review of the author's research projects since 1980 related to the concept of educative leadership. The concept was originally defined as leadership intended to improve learning. Its development as informed by action research (being an educator and educational administrator at school to university level), systematic studies intended to refine a practical theory of educative leadership, and applied research (advising reforms to education systems and university programs). The review indicates that while the concept has served as a useful organizer for a career and research, theory building was too long restricted to education and would have been enhanced by an earlier arrival of political philosophy in the field of educational administration. It is concluded that ongoing scholarship concerning educative leadership should be related to knowledge organisations globally, applied in the sister fields of public administration and in enterprise management, and use political philosophy more explicitly to understand and evaluate the use of power in practice and theory.

Macpherson, R.J.S., Kachelhoffer, P. & El Nemr, N. (2007). The radical modernization of school and education system leadership in the United Arab Emirates: Towards indigenized and educative leadership, International Studies in Educational Administration, 35,(1), 60-77.

Published: 2007-12-01

Posted: 2009-03-21

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This case study of school and systemic reform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) begins with a highly critical evaluation of the national system of schooling. It identifies the indigenous theory of modernization that lies behind the reform program allocated AED 48 billion (USD 13 billion) for the next 10 years. It indicates the unique requirements of the reform program now being planned and mounted by the Ministry of Education and each of the Emirates' education councils (or equivalent). The paper then explains how Abu Dhabi University (ADU) has developed two new masters programs (in teaching and learning, and in educational leadership) to help transform the capacities of the nation's current professionals. It will be argued that, despite the use of external standards, a fresh blend of theory and praxis unique to the UAE will need to be developed as lead teachers and school and system managers are encouraged to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential to whole system reform. The most immediate challenge is to engage a critical mass of current professionals in a process of becoming educative managers and leaders, enabling colleagues to learn and to create learning organizations. The case highlights the interplay of historical, cultural, political and economic factors that tend to drive national educational reform agendas, while also reflecting the presence of common factors, principally the impact of information and communication technology, many forms of globalization, the internationalization of knowledge about effective educational leadership, and the wilfulness of reflective and determined leaders. It also reflects on some of the dilemmas potentially created by the globalization of leadership standards developed in an American context, and suggest how, with judicious leadership by educative consultants, they could develop an indigenous form of educative leadership. The paper ends with an invitation to educational researchers interested in capacity building.

This chapter reviews teaching and learning at a Middle Eastern University (MEU) through the eyes of a participant-as-observer. It provides the national, instructional and cultural context of teaching and learning in a private university that is in its early years of operations and moved into custom-built facilities. It details changes made to the original teaching and learning policy, the early provision of professional development and engagement by teachers. Three unusual features are given focussed attention; the blending of ownership, trusteeship, governance and management roles, the delayed launch of research infrastructure and the high turnover of expatriate academic staff. Three conclusions are drawn. The introduction of the constructivist pedagogy, as an indispensable component of scholarship, highlights the absence of the other components essential to the growth of knowledge; the discovery, integration and application of knowledge. The short-term nature of academic engagements at the MEU is traced to discomfort with the university being governed and managed as an autocracy, which in turn suggests the need to consider more liberal-democratic forms of governance and management with a separation of powers. Finally, a national review of higher education policy is recommended to improve access, quality and productivity of public and private institutions, to help reconcile the long-term interests of Nationals and expatriates in terms of the common good, and to create a social contract between government and its many peoples that is appropriate for a modern and multicultural knowledge society.

Prior to the 1990s, governance for economic development in New Zealand was relatively centralised. Processes of regionalisation and regionalism have subsequently occurred, driven by a mix of neo-liberal and Third Way policies and at least partly motivated by a period of increased regional disparities. This has resulted in a fragmented regional governance environment of overlapping service regions ad jurisdictions for economic development. Overlaying this framework over the past four years the Ministry of Economic Development has fostered the bottom-up establishment of 26 economic development regions. This paper discusses the roles of central government, local government and non-government organisations as key players in this new environment. It begins with an overview of New Zealand's recent economic history and accompanying institutional reforms, followed by a description of the key agencies involved in regional economic development in contemporary New Zealand. The paper concludes with a discussion of the importance of partnerships for regional economic development.

This paper describes the structure, origins, evolution, validity and reliability, administration, and appropriate uses of the Learning Improvement Strategies Questionnaire (LISQ). The LISQ was designed to monitor the quality of the learning environment of courses (taught units or
components of a programme of study). The LISQ is shown to be a relatively quick, reliable and valid method of monitoring courses. It is suggested that it could also assist with formative evaluation should teaching teams develop learning improvement strategies from response distributions.

Macpherson, R.J.S. and McKillop, A. (2001). Mentoring school governance and management: An evaluation of support to schools' boards of trustees, Journal of Educational Administration, 40(4), 323-348.

Published: 2001-07-15

Posted: 2010-01-29

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The aim of the research project reported here was to evaluate the process and outcomes of the in-depth training programme provided to primary and secondary schools' boards of trustees by the Far North Rural Education Assistance Programme (REAP) in New Zealand. Practical research questions were developed from an analysis of the policy context and programme contracts. The international research literature on mentoring and effective support programmes was then examined. Data were collected using four methods: documentary analysis; case studies of eight selected school communities; a survey of all members of 24 participating boards of trustees; and a focus group interview of programme consultants. Construct validity, multiple data types and sources, reasonable survey response rates, bias control strategies and triangulation permitted tentative conclusions and provisional recommendations to be drawn. It was found that the REAP scheme was valued for three main reasons: it built governance capacities in school communities; delivered free to the school, appropriately scaled, culturally sensitive and customized support on-site; and it improved the ability of schools to self-manage improvements. It was also found that the Far North REAP Office played a key role in conceptualizing, developing, brokering and managing these board mentoring services, and developed brokerage that might be usefully replicated through the Ministry of Education's contracting processes.

This paper reports a preliminary review of values evident in early discussions about the social impact of technology-based distributed learning (TBDL, otherwise known as flexible learning. Modest research is reported to identify values being used to justify claims about social impacts. Data were the presentations and debates of informed post-graduate students concerned with the social impact of TBDL. Content analysis identified values in their claims. It was shown that the references to key issues were in five realms; educational (29%), social (25%), existential (20%), organizational (19%) and commercial (7%). A values audit using Hodgkinson’s model of value showed that about 37% of claims appealed to Type I principles, about 28% to Type IIA views of consequences, about 12% to Type IIB notions of consensus and about 21% to Type III personal preferences. Were this study replicated in jurisdictions to obtain broadly similar outcomes, it is tentatively concluded that educational administrators might anticipate most challenges to be based on ideological grounds with some driven by consequential and personal justifications. Concerns would focus fairly evenly on the anticipated impacts of TBDL in educational, social, existential and organizational realms. Three issues were identified for further research. There was little to suggest that structure might be used to implement strategically smart or collectively valued policies in society. Second, respondents lacked the epistemological tools that might have helped them critically examine their prior ideological commitments and methods of justifying values claims. Third, this implied that few respondents realized the apparently significant role that ideology plays in interpreting the projected social impacts of TBDL.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (1999). The methodology of a minor miracle: Killing a myth through strategic planning in the Elam School of Fine Arts. International Journal of Educational Management, 13(6), 272-280.

Published: 1999-07-01

Posted: 2011-04-25

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This paper reports the planning processes used in one of New Zealand’s premier schools of fine art. Elam has a culture of exuberant individualism, high productivity and disciplinary sectionalism. There is a belief that it is cantankerously and inevitably unbiddable, and yet, paradoxically, it is well enough organised to shape New Zealand’s cultural identity, consistently producing some of its finest visual artists and designers. Processes were drawn from action research, organisational development and educative leadership theory to develop a collective purpose with goals and objectives, and program plans and budgets for 1998. It is shown that there was no ‘minor miracle’ involved, just the death of a myth about Elam’s incapacity to learn as a School.

Macpherson, R.J.S. (1999). An organised anarchy or a community of diverse virtue ethics? The case of the Elam School of Fine Arts. International Journal of Educational Management, 13(5), 219-225.

Published: 1999-01-01

Posted: 2011-04-25

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There is a widely accepted myth in New Zealand that the Elam School of Fine Arts in the University of Auckland is an organised anarchy, internally divided and cantankerously unbiddable, and further, that this is largely inevitable given the nature of artists and designers. Its unique culture, however, is shown in this paper to have been generated and reinforced over decades by the exigencies of environment, partitioned and media-based curricula structures, intense and volatile relationships, and, occasionally, inappropriate leadership services. This history has created a culture of exuberant individualism, high productivity and disciplinary sectionalism. And yet, despite this history, Elam has sustained a major role in shaping New Zealand’s cultural identity, and continues to produce some of the countries most outstanding visual artists and designers. The paradox involved is partially explained by persistent evidence of self-managing teams, creative problem-solving, and independent excellence, that together suggest deep and plural commitments to a virtue ethic.

This paper reports a one-year pilot action research project supported by the Teacher Development Branch of the Department of Education in Western Australia and the WA High School Principals Association. The pilot involved five collaborative triads of principals being trained and provided with ongoing professional development to offer peer process consultancy to each other. The general finding was that participants highly valued peer process consultancy as inservice professional development. They cited six major outcomes: a much appreciation of consultative processes and techniques, positive changes in their schools, new personal enthusiasm and confidence, fresh willingness to search for root causes of attitudes and beliefs impeding development, an accelerated exposure to
others' thoughts on school renewal, and learning
a manner of helping each other that went past prying
or evaluating in professionally improper ways. It was provisonally concluded that the strategy allows principals time to parenthetically reconsider (with peer consultants)
their values with regard to real administrative situations. They must also construct visions of alternative
situations, and then conduct strategic and tactical
appraisals of change facilitation, before offering
feedback and other support services. Although peer process consultancy is ostensibly about school improvement, it is, in effect an intervention into the character and cultural
arts of an administrator. Further research was recommended into two issues; the importance of self-pacing the development of professional values, understandings and skills, and why the development of advice for a peer appeared to have greater effect on the provider rather than on the recipient of the advice.